Schools, post offices, and other buildings oftentimes don’t allow firearms inside. That means, if you’re carrying your gun, you need to stash it in your car while running few errands.

Sure, you might be gone 10 minutes. But why take the risk of someone breaking in and getting their hands on your gun while you’re not around?

In some states, it’s mandatory to get a gun safe for your car or truck. (Cough…California.) So today I’ll be reviewing 5 gun safes. I’ll explain which work best to store under your seat, in the center console and other places inside your vehicle.

With that being said, let’s look at the top 5 car gun safes for your traveling needs and purposes. For the most popular car gun safe, head to Amazon right now.

This safe is perfect for someone who doesn’t want to spend a ton of money.

Don’t care much about theft protection? If you just want to keep your gun locked up in your center console or under the seat of the car, this is great. Heck, this could even fit in the glove compartment depending on your car.

The safe features a padded interior that will allow you to store your firearm inside with nice cushioning. The interior foam will also keep your valuables safe and secure and it has been tested to be impact resistant.

The safe is opened and closed using a key locking mechanism that will ensure that you always have access and you need not worry about batteries dying on you. No electronics here!

The frame has been constructed from 18-gauge steel and all the security features perfectly meet the guidelines of the TSA for storing firearms on airplanes. 18 gauge steel is on the thinner side, but it’s still steel, which gives you a bit of protection. It also accounts for the weight of this safe.

The safe is extremely small and portable and with each one, you will receive a strong cable that has the capabilities of carrying 1500 lbs. This will allow you to secure the safe around the seat or another item in your car. It can perfectly fit underneath the driver’s seat, thanks to the flat construction.

There’s one downside. You will need to always know where the keys are and then unlock the safe using the keys. It may be a little more difficult to get quick access because it can be time-consuming. If quick access is a necessity for you, look towards other options like the Titan or Fort Knox safes that we review below.

Two keys are included with this safe, so stash one of them somewhere secure in case you misplace your main key.

Another benefit you will have with the safe is the ability to remove it whenever you like and simply mount the safe anywhere else. Nice and portable.

This is perfect for someone who wants to mount their gun safe to their car for a cheap price. It works well beneath a seat in your vehicle due to the mounting capabilities and design.

If you’re wanting a permanent safe in your car, this is a great option. Because it comes with a mounting bracket and locking cable, it’s not intended to be as portable as other options.

Like most high-quality gun safes, the design has been made specifically to allow you to have a pry resistant safe. The hinges have been built on the inside and this will ensure that they cannot be used as a weakness when someone is trying to force open the safe. This has been tested by professionals using common hand tools.

Essentially, it slides into the mounting area where it can be stored. This gives you added theft protection that a normal cable can’t do.

The safe features a key locking system and even though this may not give you fast access to your weapons, it will still ensure that you always have access. No more worrying about batteries and fingerprint smudges with this technologically free safe.

This safe can hold a mid-sized gun, but larger full sized guns may have difficulty fitting inside. There is extra room for rounds or a spare mag.

The safe is light and can easily be concealed. Because it requires a key, kids won’t easily be able to access the safe either. We recommend that you always keep the key with you to ensure that only you have 100% access.

Overall, we like the safe for travelers and even though it may not be able to store more than one firearm, it will ensure that the firearm or valuables inside are securely protected and safe from any danger.

SnapSafe Lockbox with Key Lock for Full Size Pistols

This safe is ideal for someone who wants to keep the kids out. It’s also an ideal safe if you’re looking to store full-size pistols. It comes in 3 sizes.

It’s not your top-of-the-line burglar-proof gun safe, but it will do the job to prevent basic break-ins.

Lock up your gun while heading into work for the day and it should be fine in your car.

The safe is one of the lightest on the list and can easily be concealed in smaller areas. It still has the capacity store one full-size handgun and the interior foam padding will ensure that it has the capabilities to also withstand impact.

This safe has also been approved by the California Department of Justice as one of the top safes for cars and homes.

The safe also features a key locking mechanism that will eliminate the need for maintenance and reduce the overall cost to own the safe. It comes with a backup key just in case you misplace your main key.

And as an added benefit, the hinges are fitted on the inside. Thus, you can be sure that the safe is pry-resistant for the average person.

You can secure the safe to anywhere in your car with the included cable. It is not the most sturdy, though, so I recommend you get a different one if you’d like.Here’s one that seems to work well for adding extra theft protection.

With the safe, you will also receive portability. The safe can easily be concealed in a briefcase and can be used in the office and home as well. Not only is the safe great for cars, but the childproof lock will make this a great nightstand gun safe as well.

Overall, the safe is really affordable and will provide you with the perfect amount of space needed to store your firearm. By having the keys close by, you will also have quick access to the safe and ensure that you are the only one that can access the items inside.

Note: This does come in 3 different sizes, so if it seems too small for you, check out Amazon’s other sizes.

The largest size actually offers pre-drilled holes for mounting. Bonus!

Titan Gun Safe

Live in California and want to travel with your handgun? This is a MUST.

The Titan gun safe is different than all the other gun safes on the list and it is also much heavier than the standard gun safes. The safe is made to mount nearly anywhere in the home, office, or inside your car.

The main downside to the safe is that it is larger than the other safes, so concealing the safe in your car is tough. The safe can easily mount underneath your seat or even near your shifting gears and you will be able to quickly access your firearms.

You can grab an ammo box to go with this safe if you want. This can be great for creating more storage space, but it also leaves you with a bigger gun safe that might make the concealment part more difficult.

But if someone does try to break in, the safe is tamper proof and the internal hinges ensure that no weaknesses are present on the safe, thus allowing you the freedom of mounting it unconcealed.It’s known for its quick access. You can get your gun in-hand in just a few seconds.

A simplex combination lock with more than 2000 combinations has been fitted with the safe. This will give you the advantage of going keyless. And with the easy to access keypad, you will be able to unlock the safe in no time at all. The developers have even claimed that the safe is the fastest unlocking safe on the market.

Inside you will find a foam padded interior to provide you with protection from impact. The safe has also been approved by the California Department of Justice, thus ensuring that you’ll be nicely obeying the strict California rules.

This safe works well under your seat in your car or in the center console area depending on your vehicle.

With 1081 different locking combinations, the Fort Knox handgun safe will definitely be perfect for your car. The simplex lock requires no batteries or keys.

The safe is quite bigger than the other alternatives on the list and will also provide you with the most safety features. The safe has been approved by the California Department of Justice and the safe can be cabled or dead bolted to your car.

The door on the safe is quite heavy, but this only adds to the protection. To ensure that you still have quick access, the door has been fitted with a gas strut on the inside. This strut activates as you open the safe and it will lift the door for you and also keep it in the air.

The exterior has been stylishly designed to ensure that the safe looks good and it has been made from durable 10-gauge steel, ensuring that no one can break the safe and with no other weaknesses, the safe seems to be virtually impenetrable.

The stylish silver powder coated finish will allow you the freedom of displaying the safe openly while the bigger size will allow you the benefit of storing a second smaller firearm inside.

I would recommend the safe for people with a bigger vehicle if you want to conceal the safe, but it can also be easily mounted in the trunk. This is also a great option for people with trucks.

Key features to consider before buying:

In car gun safes differ quite a lot from the standard gun safes and they have a few other features that need to be taken into account. These features will ensure that you get optimal functionality and protection from your portable gun safe and that you have quick accessibility when trouble may arise and you need to access your firearm.

Quality: Quality is the most important part of any gun safe. Whether you are using it inside your house or in your vehicle, the safe should be made from extremely durable materials. And we highly recommend steel as the most lucrative material that will safeguard all your valuables and your firearms.

Accessibility: Should you accidentally enter a dangerous situation, you will need to access the firearm at a moment’s notice. The locking mechanism is extremely important here and you need to carefully choose between biometric, electronic and mechanical locking mechanisms to ensure that you take the locking mechanism that offers you the most use and fastest accessibility.

Size: The size of your car will definitely impact this decision. And you should have a safe that can still be easily concealed in your specific car. Obviously, people with bigger vehicles will have the benefit of trying out bigger safes. And thus they will have more place to store their firearms and valuables.

Risk Assessment: This is something that needs to be done before considering your safe. You will need to determine how much risk the safe has and if it could be easily opened once the car is stolen of broken into. You will also need to ensure that you have the perfect spot for concealing the safe to ensure that no one can easily find the safe.

Mounting ability: The ideal car safe should be able to easily mount inside most locations in the car. It should be secure and immovable and even completely pry resistant. We recommend looking for dead bolted mounting safes, but cable mounted safe may also work perfectly and you should be able to get a secure and sturdy platform from them as well.

By understanding these features, you will definitely get the most out of your safe without any unnecessary problems. The concealment should also be noted, and we’ve talked about some of the top hiding spots for your small or portable gun safe.

Frequently asked questions about car gun safes

Will heat cause damage to the firearm or force it to go off?

This has actually been a highly debated question. Luckily, a car can’t become hot enough to force the firearm to dislodge the bullet. We do not recommend keeping a firearm cocked inside your car though. It will damage the internal spring of the gun over time.
There are exceptions that may cause the gun to dislodge a bullet. One of the exceptions is impact and the other is fire. Should a fire arise near of inside the car, we cannot guarantee that it won’t dislodge a bullet, but the chance of this happening is very small.

Impact, on the other hand, may be a real threat. You should definitely be driving carefully when you are driving with a fully loaded and cocked handgun. Certain firearms may not be able to handle the impact, but most of the safes have been lined with interior foam. This will serve as a cushion and definitely decrease the likelihood of the firearm getting damaged.

Where is the best place to store or hide my gun safe?

Once again, this will depend on the size of the safe and the size of your car. We highly recommend storing the smaller safes underneath your seat as this will give you faster access to the safe. Plus, it still conceals the safe from anyone peeking through the window when you are not present or nearby. Concealing a safe will also reduce the risk of break-ins to your vehicle. And you will be able to leave the safe in the car, knowing it is safe.

For the larger gun safes, we recommend the trunk or even at the bottom of the backseat. You will need to decide whether you need quick access or long term storage.
Understanding the purpose and the reason you need a safe makes it easier to choose the right safe and ensure that all of your valuables or firearms are protected.

Final thoughts

Choosing the best car gun safe is quite hard but hopefully this review gave you some ideas. All of these safes are highly recommended and they each serve a different purpose.

For under the seat concealment, I’d suggest the Bulldog as the cheap option and the Titan as the solid option.

For console area gun safes, grab yourself the GunVault. Cheap, but made by a company that knows what they’re doing. Heck, they make Cannon gun safes. So you know they’re good.

You’ll get a lot of peace of mind knowing your gun will be stored properly in your car. Especially if you just started carrying with your concealed carry permit.

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